We, the committees of the Hull City Supporters Trust, the Hull City Official Supporters Club, the Hull City Southern Supporters and the Hull City Disabled Supporters Association, register our strong opposition to the prospect of the Championship play-off final being postponed from Saturday May 23 to a later date.
The date of the play-off final has been on the calendar for the whole season, and thousands of Hull City fans have already made travel and accommodation plans based around that. They are completely blameless regarding the allegations against Southampton and should not be made to suffer as a result.
Moving the date of the final to the evening of Wednesday 27 May, as is being reported to be under consideration, would be unfair on many Hull City fans in other ways. This date falls in school half term, and many who will have kept Saturday 23 May free for several months will be on holiday at the later date, or will be unable to take time off work at such short notice. Young children, who will have been looking forward to seeing their club play at Wembley for the first time, may not be able to attend an evening kick off. This move would have a big economic impact on thousands of Hull City fans who have already paid hundreds of pounds in travel and accommodation costs, and would deny many more the opportunity to see their club at Wembley. This is grossly unfair. The Football League could and should have had a more robust system in place to deal with this eventuality, one that does not punish innocent fans who should be enjoying contemplating seeing their club play at the national stadium.
We urge the Football League to fulfil its moral responsibility towards the fans of Hull City AFC and confirm that the play-off date will remain on May 23 regardless of the outcome of the investigation into Southampton’s actions. Anything else will be a dereliction of its duties towards the fans, who, yet again, are the last to be considered in such situations. We fill the stadia through thick and thin, fair weather and foul. We are the people who provide the wherewithal for the clubs to exist, and make the English game so appealing globally, and we believe we speak for a vast majority of fans when we say that the Football League should get its priorities right and put fans over function.
Yours sincerely,
The chairs of the Hull City Supporters Trust, Hull City Official Supporters Club, the Hull City Southern Supporters, and the Hull City Disabled Supporters.